The Green Bay Packers have seemed comfortable with their cornerback situation. With Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Eric Stokes under contract beyond 2023, there was little reason to worry about it. That’s why general manager Brian Gutekunst didn’t take a cornerback before the seventh round in this year’s draft or add any significant free-agent alternative. Green Bay’s biggest move was to re-sign Keisean Nixon. They mostly brought him back because of his returning abilities, but he’s also expected to start in the slot.
Hopefully for the Packers, seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine confirms what he has done in the preseason and becomes a reliable contributor. However, Green Bay’s depth at corner is thin, and you shouldn’t be surprised if they carried just four on the initial 53-man roster.
The situation is especially dicey because Eric Stokes is still recovering from knee and ankle injuries he suffered last year. The third-year player is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. If he starts the regular season on the PUP, he must miss the first four games. (That’s a slightly better situation for the Packers since the NFL adjusted the PUP rules, which used to mandate that players had to stay out for ant least six weeks.)
Without Stokes, the Packers have only four locks to make the 53-man roster at cornerback: Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Carrington Valentine as outside options, and Keisean Nixon as the slot corner.
If Green Bay needs a backup to replace Nixon in the slot, they could run into trouble. Douglas and Valentine are not ideally suited to play inside. Rasul did it last year when Stokes was healthy, and the results were suboptimal. Even when Stokes is back, he is better suited to play outside.
Bubble Options
Green Bay’s other options at cornerback are fighting for roster spots. On the unofficial depth chart, Innis Gaines, who is actually a safety, and Shemar Jean-Charles are the slot corners behind Nixon. The Packers could keep one of them on the active roster in case of emergency, and they would most likely cut them as soon as Stokes is ready to return.
Corey Ballentine and Kiondre Thomas also have an outside chance at making the team. Undrafted rookie William Hooper has had a solid preseason, but it seems more likely that he’ll make the practice squad.
However, neither of these players are great alternatives. And with the problems at safety, the Packers might decide to keep six of them to see who sticks — Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens, Tarvarius Moore, Anthony Johnson, and Dallin Leavitt — and to exploit them on special teams. If Gutekunst decides to include six safeties on the 53, it may get harder to keep more than four cornerbacks.
For them, the last preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday might be huge. Alexander hasn’t played in the preseason yet, nor should he, so less experienced players have significant playing time in exhibition games.
Different coaching staff
The cornerbacks face a unique situation on Green Bay’s coaching staff, because it underwent the most change from 2022 to 2023. Defensive backs coach and passing-game coordinator Jerry Gray’s contract expired, and he signed with the Atlanta Falcons. The Packers didn’t seem too interested in keeping him either. Even though his title included all defensive backs, he used to work primarily with cornerbacks because the Packers had Ryan Downard, a separate coach who worked with the safeties.
Now, they’ve changed the structure. They promoted Downard to defensive backs coach, and the recently hired Greg Williams has been established as the passing-game coordinator. Williams is expected to work more closely with cornerbacks, too, as Gray did. He had been a cornerbacks coach for the Arizona Cardinals for four seasons before moving on to the Packers.
The players have already noticed the differences between Williams and Gray. For example, Alexander mentioned that the new position coach prefers to instigate his players to challenge receivers at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s been helping me with my alignment,” said Alexander. “Because sometimes I have a tendency to play a little farther off. So he’s just been trying to tighten my leverage down.”
The Packers hope there is a better alignment between their secondary approach and what Joe Barry wants to call as the defensive coordinator. Last season, Jerry Gray forcefully distanced himself from the play calls and the general strategy of the unit. Right or wrong, it was clear that Gray wasn’t happy with the philosophy and game plans formulated by the coordinator, and that ultimately was the main reason why he didn’t re-sign.
Right now, the Packers have four locks to make the roster. But considering the team uses three at the same time on most plays, it sure feels like a thin group. Green Bay could elevate a cornerback or two from the practice squad for game day while Stokes is still out or play safeties in the slot. However, the depth situation is not as comfortable as the starting trio makes it look.
